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Neck discomfort has been reported in other neurological syndromes, ie Shy
Drager.  David Robertson at Vanderbilt published a paper on it within the
last year I believe.  I have an ill defined neurological problem which is
associated with intermittent throat pain, and neck fullness.  A couple of
other potential causes come to mind as also.  Perhaps it's just part of a
continuum of neuropathic problems people with neurological disease have.  It
is not surprising that there is overlap between them.  Biological systems
are seldom all or none and seldom fit into nice little packages.

Don Ball

At 07:21 PM 5/13/96 -0400, you wrote:
>To: Barbara Blake Krebs and Robert Howard,
>
>You each write about >>throat/mouth/jaw/neck pain......>>
>> My wife,76/10+, has had this symptom for about 4 years, and it is probably
>the mosy
>>distressing of all of her problems. The literature is silent about such
>>pain, and it is not supposed to be a part of PD, which is a motor, not a
>>sensory disorder. BUT this pain does respond to Sinemet and is most likely
>>to occur in the mid-evening. She takes liquid Tylenol, bur frankly, we
>>don't know whether that really helps or is just something to do. She does
>>seem to get some help from Klonopin, a muscle relaxant related to Valium.
>>This also makes her slepy, so it is a good Rx to take at night. We'd like
>>to hear more about your experience. >
>
>I found the following abstract in Medline, it may provide some clue to the
>neck/jaw, etc... pain:
>
>Author  -  Robertson LT; Hammerstad JP
>Address  Department of Biological Structure and Function, School of
>Dentistry, Oregon
>Health Sciences University,
>Portland 97201, USA.
>Source
>J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry,
>60:
>1, 1996 Jan,
>41-50
>
><Abstract
>
>OBJECTIVES--To test the hypotheses that Parkinson's disease can
>differentially produce deficits in voluntary and rhythmic jaw movements,
>which involve different neuronal circuits, and that
>levodopa treatment improves specific components of the motor deficit.
>METHODS--Patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and control subjects
>were tested on a series of jaw motor tasks that included simple voluntary
>movement, isometric clenching, and natural and paced rhythmic
>movements. Jaw movements were measured  by changes in electromagnetic
>fields and EMG activity. Patients with Parkinson's disease with fluctuations
>in motor responses to levodopa were tested while off and on.
>
>RESULTS--During the off state, patients with Parkinson's disease were
>significantly worse than the control subjects on most tasks.
>The deficits included a decrease in amplitude and velocity during jaw
>opening and closing, aberrant patterns and low amplitude of EMG activity
>during clenching, and low vertical amplitude and prolonged durations of
>occlusion during rhythmic  movements. No decrements were found in the
>amplitude of voluntary lateral jaw movements or the frequency
>of rhythmic movements. During the on state, improvements occurred in the
>patterns and level of EMG activity during clenching and in the vertical
>amplitude and duration of occlusion during rhythmic movements, although a
>significant decrement occurred in the lateral excursion of the jaw.
>
>CONCLUSIONS--Parkinson's  disease affects the central programming of
>functionally related muscles involved in voluntary and rhythmic jaw
>movements and levodopa replacement influences only certain aspects of jaw
>movement, most likely those requiring sensory feedback.
>Language of Publication>English
>>Unique Identifier</>
>96151176<<Levodopa
>
>Regards,
>Margaret Tuchman
>